Melaghar (Bengali: মেলাঘর) is a small town located in the Indian state of Tripura and a Municipal Council in Sipahijala district situated about 50 km (approx. 30 miles) from capital Agartala. It is a neighbour to Sonamura and only 10 km (6 miles) away from the Bangladesh International border. The famous Neermahal is situated in the middle of Rudrasagar Lake is a tourist attraction of Melaghar town. Other tourist attractions includes Pagli Masi temple & the Veeramma Kali Temple built by T. Veeramani Thirumeni, project manager at BBR (India) Pvt Ltd, from Karaikkudi, Tamil Nadu.
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Melaghar
মেলাঘর | |
---|---|
Town | |
Melaghar Location of Melaghar in Tripura Show map of TripuraMelaghar Melaghar (India) Show map of India | |
Coordinates: 23.49°N 91.33°E / 23.49; 91.33 | |
Country | India |
Region | North-Eastern |
State | Tripura |
District | Sipahijala district |
Subdivision | Sonamura |
Government | |
• Type | Municipal Council |
• Body | Melaghar Municipal Council |
• Chairman | Smt. Anamika Ghosh (BJP) |
Elevation | 11 m (36 ft) |
Population (2017) | |
• Total | 20,300 |
Languages | |
• Official | Bengali, Kokborok, English[1] |
• Max. Spoken Language | Bengali, Kokborok, Hindi |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
PIN | 799115 |
Melaghar is situated in a low elevation of 11 meters (36 ft). Melaghar has a tranquil climate most of the year. However, summertime can be excessively hot, dry, humid, and interspersed with rains and thunderstorms. Winter generally starts towards the end of November and lasts until February, where the temperatures can reach very low conditions. The monsoon season of Melaghar starts in April, during the Bengali month of Boishakh. During the monsoon season, Melaghar is inundated frequently due to excessive rainfall and flooding by the local rivers, most memorably by the 1993 and 2007 Tripura Floods.
Climate data for Melaghar | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 31 (88) |
36 (97) |
31 (88) |
44 (111) |
43 (109) |
42 (108) |
38 (100) |
37 (99) |
37 (99) |
36 (97) |
34 (93) |
29 (84) |
44 (111) |
Average high °C (°F) | 24 (75) |
28 (82) |
33 (91) |
35 (95) |
34 (93) |
32 (90) |
30 (86) |
30 (86) |
30 (86) |
30 (86) |
27 (81) |
25 (77) |
30 (86) |
Average low °C (°F) | 11 (52) |
13 (55) |
18 (64) |
23 (73) |
26 (79) |
26 (79) |
26 (79) |
26 (79) |
25 (77) |
22 (72) |
18 (64) |
14 (57) |
21 (70) |
Record low °C (°F) | 4 (39) |
6 (43) |
10 (50) |
15 (59) |
19 (66) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
23 (73) |
19 (66) |
15 (59) |
9 (48) |
2 (36) |
2 (36) |
Average precipitation cm (inches) | 0.3 (0.1) |
0.8 (0.3) |
2.8 (1.1) |
9.3 (3.7) |
21.7 (8.5) |
38.7 (15.2) |
44.0 (17.3) |
38.4 (15.1) |
26.7 (10.5) |
13.3 (5.2) |
2.7 (1.1) |
0.3 (0.1) |
199 (78) |
Source: foreca.com[2] |
Melaghar has a total population of 20,300 as of April 2017.[3] Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%.
Melaghar has an average literacy rate of 91%, higher than the national average of 74.04%. Male literacy is 93%, and female literacy is 88%.
The sex ratio of Melaghar is 984 females per 1000 males.[4] A total of 11% of the population are under 6 years of age. Whilst the majority speak Bengali, Melaghar is also home to Bengali-speaking tribes and also Hindi, as some of them are Bihari.
Melaghar is located within Nalchar and Mohanbhog Block, Sonamura Subdivision, on the bank of Gomati River. Coordinates are 23.49°N 91.33°E.
Melaghar is a part of Tripura West (Lok Sabha constituency).[5]
Cricket is the major and most played game in Melaghar. There are so many small fields here and there, but the only one big field is located behind of Melaghar Class XII School, locally known as Kajal Maidan. Domestic matches have been played there many times. Thus the field is being remade as a Stadium.
The main transport system of Melaghar is the IRN road transport system. One part of the National Highway 8 (State Highway 6) goes through this village and was divided into two roads in Bishalgarh. Another part starts from Bishalgarh and ends at Sonamura motor stand. This is the main road of Melaghar, also known as Melaghar-Sonamura main road (SH-6). There is a small motorstand and that is developing day by day. Hundreds of people are traveling to others places from here. Melaghar is well connected to the capital, Agartala (via Nalchar, Bishramganj and Bishalgarh) and one of the major cities Udaipur (via Kakraban and Palatana). The new bus service Sonamura-Agartala and Sonamura-Udaipur is also available. Local auto-rickshaws are available here as some go to local destinations. The nearest airport is Agartala Airport, that is about 60 km (37 mi) from the main area.
One of the best times to visit Melaghar is during the famous Durga Puja, when the streets come alive and people from the entire village flock to the village centre to visit the many statues of goddess Durga scattered around the village. Durga Puja is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Bijoya Dashami.
Melaghar is in good position in term of Maa Durga Puja for its pandals in all the state.
One of the main festivals is the Kali Puja, which occurs between October and November, and is where the children, adults, and the elderly attend. Melaghar is also known for its bright lights during this Puja, where the entire village is lit up.
Melaghar RathaYatra is one of the oldest and biggest Mela (fairs) of Tripura. Every year in June–July, it (Bengali: আষাঢ়) is held at Jagannath Bari field. Thousands of people have come to increase the crowd and popularity.
Neermahal is the main spot of Melaghar.[6] It is the second scenic water palace in this type, after Jal Mahal in Rajasthan, and the only one in Eastern India. The palace was built by Maharaja (King) Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman (1926-1930). It is a palace in the middle of Rudrasagar Lake. It is located about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the main market. There are also boat rides to travel to the main palace from Rajghat Ferryghat. Sagarmahal is a lodge hotel for tourists who wish to spend a night there. Every year hundreds of people come for picnics in the winter time. Also many foreign birds come to this lake in the winter season.
These clubs make pandels in Durga or Kali puja, hosting varieties of functions and sometimes Blood Donation camp.
Daily newspapers published from Agartala and Kolkata reach daily morning in this area. Daily popular papers are Dainik Sambad, Syandhan Patrika, Pratibadi Kalam, Daily Desher Katha etc. Besides above, national dailies like The Telegraph, Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, The Times of India or The Statesman, are also available. All the collections can be found at Melaghar Public Library.
The important and major mobile-phone network such as Airtel, BSNL, Jio, Vi and only BSNL broadband services are available here.
Network | 2G/GSM | 3G/UMTS | 4G/LTE |
---|---|---|---|
Jio | — | — | Yes |
BSNL | Yes | Yes | Not yet[7] |
Vi | Yes | Yes | No |
Airtel | Yes | Inactive[8] | Yes |
Some nearby major town's distance from Melaghar.
No. | City | Distance (km) |
---|---|---|
1. | Sonamura | 9 |
2. | Kakraban | 13 |
3. | Bishramganj | 15 |
4. | Udaipur | 22 |
5. | Bishalgarh | 28 |
6. | Agartala | 47 |
7. | Belonia | 54 |
8. | Teliamura | 71 |
9. | Khowai | 100 |
10. | Dharmanagar | 200 |